Eastern Illinois UniversityThe Keep

Spring 2011 2011

Spring 1-15-2011

ENG 3802-001: ShakespeareChris WixsonEastern Illinois University

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Recommended CitationWixson, Chris, "ENG 3802-001: Shakespeare" (2011). Spring 2011. 95.http://thekeep.eiu.edu/english_syllabi_spring2011/95

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Eng 3802: "Shakespeare" spring 2011 I Section 001 Dr. Chris Wixson

syllabus

"Every age creates its own Shakespeare."

-Marjorie Garber, Shakespeare After All

"What we learn from Shakespeare is how rich life can be if you have access to the language."

-William Hutt, Actor

course philosophy Ben Jonson 's epitaph, memorializing Shakespeare as "not of an age but for all time" has proven prophetic. Last April, the Royal Shakespeare Company premiered Such Tweet Sorrow, an experimental five-week production of Romeo and

Juliet performed via Twitter. A month earlier, the venerable Arden Shakespeare series officially welcomed an addition to the Bard's canon entitled Double Falsehood. In short, with a "brand new" play out and a central role in the vanguard of alternative media performance, Shakespeare is alive and well in the 21st century. Centering our inquiry around issues of desire and power, this course will read nine of Shakespeare's plays, and their complexities of language demand rigor in reading, writing, and thinking. We will be approaching these plays as both literary *and*

theatrical texts, discussing not only their political and historical thematic implications but also their potential for acting, directorial, and technical choices. The course has a demanding assignment schedule that necessitates time and planning, and all assignments must be completed in order to pass this course. Since English 3802 involves a fair amount of writing, we will spend time in class talking about the organization and construction of strong interpretive arguments. The format of each class will be relatively fluid, changing with regard to the material, my ideas, and your interests. There will be some discussion as well as the occasional informal lecture. However, this course should focus primarily on you, your questions, and opinions. Remember this is not MY class but ours.

Learning Outcomes

1. To provide strategies for reading and appreciating the works of William Shakespeare for the insight they provide about Early Modern England and our own time.

2. To allow each member of the class to engage the significant issues and questions raised by the plays through writing, performance, and class discussion.

3. To assist in the development of skills of critical thinking and argumentative writing.

course texts The Complete Works of Shakespeare, ed. David Bevington

The Bedford Companion to Shakespeare , Russ McDonald

contact information

Dr. Chris Wixson cmwixson@eiu.edu

Coleman Hall 3871 Office Hours:

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assignments

* Short pieces of writing (2-3 pages) ca lled "seed papers" in which you pose a

productive question which relates to the inquiry issues of the course about the text and then attempt to answer it. You may be asked to present and conduct class discussion with your question once during the semester. However, you will be required to write three total, that deal specifically with the

language of part of the reading due for that day. Because these papers are primarily for discussion, no late seed papers will be accepted.

* The first (due 1/12) must analyze the relationship between the two characters based on the language Shakespeare chooses in the opening lines of Midsummer

* Two critical papers that are engaged, engaging, and articulate. The first will be a Notes and Queries-style assignment while the second will involve theatre history. Writing and topic guidelines will be handed out in advance.

*Active, Engaged Participation in Discussion--- defined as TALKING productively.

*A Midterm and a Final Exam

final grades Your final grade in the course will be determined by your performance on the following assignments:

Three Seed Papers 15%

Two Critical Papers 40%

Midterm Exam 10%

Final Exam 20%

In-class Writings; Quizzes 1 Active Participation 15%

**You must complete all written assignments and exams to complete the course. Failure to complete any one of the

components represents incomplete work for the semester and anyone with incomplete work will not receive a passing grade for the course.

attendance Mandatory.

I expect you to be in class awake and prepared every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning. In other words, arrive on time with your reading/writing assignment completed, prepared to participate in discussion. Because so much in this course relies upon in-class work, absences and habitual lateness will adversely affect your course performance. Attendance will be taken at each class session -you are allowed two unexcused absences before your grade is negatively affected. After two, each unexcused absence will lower your participation grade by half a letter. More than

five unexcused absences will result in a "0" for participation. More than nine unexcused absences will result in a grade of no credit for the course. Habitual lateness (beyond once) will also affect your grade negatively since it is disruptive and disrespectful. Please notify me by email if there is unexpected illness or an emergency that causes you

to miss class. Do not get in touch asking "for the assignment" or a "rundown of what you missed." My responsibilities as an instructor lie with the students who do come to class. Excused absences are accompanied by appropriate legal

or medical documentation. Any unexcused absence will seriously undermine your success in this course.

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class pa rticipation Mandatory.

Think of our meetings as potluck conversations and activities; You shou ld come to class prepared to ta lk about the reading for that day. Participation in a college-level course means careful, full preparation of the reading, frequent contributions to discussions, risk-taking in writing and thinking. You shou ld come to each session armed with observations, opinions, questions, and insights, ready to take an active part in the ongoing dialogue about the course materials. Class participation means that you work actively to stretch yourself intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually AND that you work actively to contribute to the class's overall movement and success. (This might mean, for example, moving from merely you r position during class discussion to striving to promote dialogue between yourself and other students). In addition to your required short papers, what else you bring to share need not be written out but should refer to specific passages in the reading as the basis for formulating a broader discussion topic or questions. Reading quizzes will happen relatively frequently to ensure the quality of our discussions.

Coming to class and saying you are "frustrated" with the reading and thus have nothing to contribute is intellectually lazy and irresponsible. Shakespeare's language is demanding but rewarding; while there will be frustration with its complexity at times, this course understands the complexity as part of the challenge to which we aspire to rise during the semester.

late papers These are no fun for me to keep track of and only put you further behind. For each day beyond the scheduled due date, late papers will be penalized a third of a letter grade. After a week, I will no longer accept the paper, and it becomes a "0. " Again, if you become ill or the victim of emergency circumstances, please email me as soon as

possible and stay in touch.

cell phone and computer use You may bring your computer to class with you, assuming that you use it in a scholarly and responsible fashion. This means that you will only have applications and windows related to the current discussion open. You may not check email, news, or box scores, surf the web, use chat applications, play games, or otherwise distract yourself and those around you from the class conversation with your computer.

You are likewise expected to use cell phones in a responsible manner: turn them off when you come in to class. If you have an emergency for which you must be available, you must discuss it with me beforehand and keep your phone on vibrate. Under no conditions are you allowed to text message, take pictures or video (illegal in class), play games, or use the cell phone in any other manner during class. The nature of our scholarly endeavor together necessitates mutual respect and dedicated attention during the too short time we have to discuss these texts. Violating any of these policies will result in your participation grade being lowered by a full letter grade for each violation.

academic integrity Any paper with your name on it signifies that you are the author- that the wording and major ideas are yours, with exceptions indicated by either quotation marks andj or citations. Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use (appropriation andj or imitation) of others' materials (words and ideas). We will discuss how to avoid it. Evidence of plagiarism will result in one or more of the following: a failing grade for the assignment, an Fin the course , and a report filed with the Student Standards Office .

special needs and situat ions If you have a documented disability and wish to receive academic accommodations, please contact the Office of Disability Services (581-6583) as soon as possible.

Eng 3802: '~Shakespeare" Dr. Chris Wixson

course calendar

**Because this schedule can and probably will change, it is imperative that you bring it to each class

meeting so as to make the appropriate revisions.

·~<* When there is reading due in the Bedford, please bring it to class with you.

January 10 Course Introduction I What is "Shakespeare"?

12 First 20 lines of Dream/ Seed Paper #1 Due (Everyone)

Unit 1: Sex, Gender, and Power: Who Scores?

14 A Midsummer Night's Dream I

Read Bedford: pp. 1-3; 109-14; 123-7; 134-7; 194-7; 221-4

17 NO CLASS--- MLK'S BIRTHDAY

19 A Midsummer Night 's Dream II -III

Bedford: pp. 145-7, 160-2 (Ovidian influences)

21 A Midsummer Night 's Dream IV

24 A Midsummer Night's Dream V

26 A Midsummer Night 's Dream V (video)

28 Taming of the Shrew

Bedford: pp. 81-5; 253-53; 265-8 (Marriage, Gender, and Economics)

31 Taming of the Shrew

February 2 Taming of the Shrew Seed #2 due

4 Taming of the Shrew

Bedford : pp. 285-90 ("Homily of the State of Matrimony")

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7 Measure for Measure

9 Measure for Measure Seed #3 due

11 NO CLASS - LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY

14 Measure for Measure Seed #4 due

16 Measure for Measure

18 Measure for Measure

Unit 2: Social Status: Who Counts?

March

21 Henry V 1 Critical Paper #1 Due

Bedford : pp. 90-4 (History Plays)

23 Henry VI Seed #5 due

25 Henry V

28 Henry V

2 Titus Andronicus

Bedford: pp. 85-90 (Tragedy) and 128 4 Titus Andronicus I Seed #6 due

7 Titus Andronicus

9 Titus Andronicus

11 MIDTERM EXAM

HAPPY SPRING BREAK!!

Unit 3: Political 1 Theatrical I Textual Power: Who Rules? Who Directs? Who Acts? Who Stars?

21 Julius Caesar

23 Julius Caesar Seed #7 due

25 Julius Caesar

28 Macbeth

30 Macbeth I Seed #8 due

April 1 Macbeth

4 Hamlet

6 Hamlet

8 Hamlet

11 Hamlet

13 Hamlet

15 Hamlet 1 Critical Paper #2 Due

18 The Winter's Tale

20 The Winter 's Tale 1 Seed #9 due

22 The Winter's Tale

25 The Winter's Tale

27 The Winter's Tale

29 Conclusion 1 Evaluation 1 Exam Review

* *Final exam date: Monday, May 2, 2:45-4:45

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. ~~lf~:::.;0;f,":<~jc A Midsummer Night's Dream I.i.1-19

Theseus: Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour Draws on apace. Four happy days bring in Another moon; but, 0, methinks, how slow This old moon wanes! She lingers my desires,

. Like to a stepdame or a dowager Long withering out a young man's revenue.

Hippolyta: Four days will quickly steep themselves in night, Four nights will quickly dream away the time; And then the moon, like to a silver bow New bent in heaveri, shall behold the night Of our solemnities. ·

Theseus: Go, Philostrate, Stir up the Athenian youth to merriments, Awake the pert and nimble spirit of mirth, Tum melancholy forth to funerals; The pale companion is not for our pomp. Hippolyta, I wooed thee with my sword And won thy love doing thee injuries; But I will wed thee in another key, With pomp, with triumph, and with reveling.

4: postpones, delays fulfillment of 5: stepmother/ widow ?:plunge 1 ~:fellow/ ceremonial magnificence

4 5

7

15 16

19

16: military engagement against the Amazons when Hippolyta was taken captive 19: public festivity